Thursday Reviews

This was a very...odd week.  Still not quite sure why.  I'm still trying to adjust to the fact that most of my favorite books have been cancelled, or ended.  Some of them will be coming back, but I really feel as though I am just going through the motions. This is...unsettling.


Batman Annual #4

I haven't really been keeping up with Batman ever since he lost his marbles and gave up being Batman.  Giant Moth Batman doesn't really float my boat.  This annual has Clayface, Riddler and Mr. Freeze, all atacking Bruce in the Mansion, and whining about how they KNOW it was he who was bankrolling Batman. 

You have to feel for them a little bit.  They do seem to have a genuine grievance.  But Bruce manages to be awesome even without his Bat Powers, and uses a rifle/shotgun, whatever, which really freaks them out, and saves Alfred and two other women, and it actually is pretty decent.  Still don't want to read about non-Bat Bruce however.

So...what has Alfred told Damian, or Tim or Jason or Barbara about what is going on with Bruce?


Green Lantern Annual #4

Every goddamn month I insist that I am not going to be sucked back into buying this book, and practically every month I think..."Maybe this one will be good". 

Well...it's not.  It's pretty terrible.  It's beyond terrible.  Hal is a completely different person.  He's traced and attacked by the remains of the Corp, including Salaak, who try to take him in, and he brutalizes all of them.  Then it turns out that it is all just him telling the story to the two guys he hangs out with along with his murderous AI for his ship,and he's just building a legend or some other crap.  Also Lobo shows up and I hate this Lobo. 

Hal has always had his whiney moments, but this is just one turgid mess. 

Awful. 

Justice League #44

I keep thinking that perhaps I have missed an issue or something, because I really no longer have a clue as to what is going on.  Batman is in Metron's Mobius chair being mystical and cryptic, but still insulting Hal, who is actually pretty normal in this book as opposed to his own.  Darkseid and Allfather are fighting, and the Anti-Monitor comes into it somehow along  with Qwardians, and God knows what else, and it is also a bit of a mess. 

I like Geoff Johns, but this is NOT his most coherent work.

Sandman Overture #6

Now THIS book was fabulous.  We come to the end of the tale, of Morpheus trying to clean up the mess he made by not getting rid of the dying star/vortex. and all the mess he made of the Universe.  The colors are lush, the artwork is gorgeous, and it is as deep and metaphysical as you would expect a Gaiman book to be. 

He does manage to save the Universe, stealing a little idea from the Dream of Cats story, and a little bit of help from Desire of all people.  It's just....lovely.

Wonder Woman '77 Special #2

This is fun.  It's nice to see a REAL Wonder Woman story for a change.  She looks like Lynda Carter, she is wearing her iconic suit, and the art is good and the two stories are fun, and all in all it's a  good read, and a bit of a relief after some of the other dreck this week.

Finally...

S.H.I.E.L.D. #10

I've only picked this book up a couple of times, but perhaps I should go back and get the ones that I missed, because it is actually pretty decent. This one has Howard the Duck in it,and of course, that makes it automatically a lot of fun.  It's a bit out of control and totally ridiculous...but that's the way a Howard the Duck comic should be!

It doesn't take itself too seriously, and by Jove, that means that it's a book for me!

And really finally...

The Tenth Anniversary Uberedition of ACTION Philosopers by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey.

I've heard about Action Philosophers, being pretty darned fabulous, but for one reason or another, I had never actually read it...until now.  Hardbound, and beautifully illustrated, this book is...quite simply...fantastic.

And funny.  And thought provoking.  But mostly funny.  Really really funny. 

So it turned out to be a better week than I thought it was going to be at first.